Lost in the Artificial Lights

by Pastor Keith Knight

John 1:8 ‘He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.’

My favorite thing in the history of ever…..is Christmas lights. Gaudy. Flashing. Multi-colored Christmas Lights. When I was a kid, my favorite thing during the Advent season was to lay on the floor in the glow of the Christmas lights in our home. I loved sitting in the calming glow of the light, anticipating the joy they heralded.

This is the season where it is extremely easy for all of us to make things about us.

But it isn’t just a season to ‘give gifts’ either. The essence of this season is to point others to the LIGHT of the WORLD, Jesus Christ. When we have seen the beauty of the light of the Gospel, then we become people who use every season, every opportunity, to bear witness about Christ, who came to give his life as a ransom for many.

How can we help our kids ‘point to the light’ this season?

Remember that we live in a dark world. – There have been plenty of things even at the beginning of this Advent season to remind us that even though Christmas is the ‘most wonderful time of the year,’ that Christ came into this world because of the darkness of sin. We celebrate because there is hope for this sinful world.

Show them the Maker is better than the gifts. – John 1:10 says the world was made through Christ, yet it did not know him. We can ‘bear witness’ about Christ by remembering that we are made for Him, and not the other way around. When our kids are complaining about the gifts they wish they’d get, remind them that the world was made for Christ, and the gift He rightly deserves is our worship and devotion.
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Use Christ’s birth to point them to the ‘new birth.’ – John 1:12-13 explains that Christ took on flesh so that sinful man would have a chance at a ‘new birth’ that brings us into God’s family. We make a big deal out of Christ becoming a human child, but do we help our kids understand that if we want to really know God, then we ‘must be born again?’

There are ALWAYS opportunities to point our kids to the Gospel, but this season we are surrounded by decorations, songs, gifts, and gatherings that give us wonderful opportunities to bear witness to Jesus Christ, the light of the world.